August 2014

08/25/2014

Q: We're in our third year of implementing the Benevon Model, with varied results regarding the fundraising dollars received in years one and two. Our Point of Entry virtual tour is done by one speaker (we tried doing it with different speakers reading letters, etc. to give different perspectives, but found the one person doing the virtual tour conveyed the emotional impact better than having different speakers). My questions are:

It was suggested that interacting with the audience between virtual tour stops would help engage the audience as well as "break up" the speaking time by the tour guide. Is it OK to have dialogue between stops?

I've read the book and did an evaluation of our Point of Entry (to get our Point of Entry Event to be sizzling and get the referral rate we're supposed to have). We have a slightly revised presentation but the referral rate is still low—is it possible that's the best we can do or is there more we can consider to improve our Point of Entry Event?

Reina in Hawaii

A: The degree to which your Point of Entry Event sizzles is a key factor in your ability to generate new Ambassadors. The true measure of success for a Point of Entry and the subsequent Five-Step Follow-Up Call is that you are able to recruit at least one new Ambassador out of the calls from each event. Let's look specifically at how to have the Point of Entry Event truly sizzle.

We would recommend reconsidering your approach to only have one speaker at a Point of Entry in a Box. It sounds as if you have already tried using letters and audio recordings, however there are ways to take those avenues for storytelling a little deeper. Perhaps you should consider asking one of your guests to read a letter that is written from a client's perspective. Prior to having them read the letter, ask them to hold up a photograph of the client or family that was helped while they read a short introduction explaining what the client was looking for when they came to your organization for help. To accompany the audio recording, you could show photographs and props that bring to life key elements of the story, like a keychain symbolizing the moment when the family got their keys and entered their new home for the first time, or a hand-drawn picture made by a child that shows their family in front of their new home.

Ideally, each Point of Entry in a Box has at least two speakers in attendance. If the person hosting the session has a personal experience with your organization, they can always tell their own story. At a minimum, the host should do the welcome and say why they are so inspired by your organization's work that they have invited these guests to attend the session. Then you might have two people from your organization in attendance—your Visionary Leader and Team Leader, or perhaps one of those people accompanied by a grateful client who can give a live testimonial.

The degree to which the audience is engaged in the program will also dictate how sizzling the Point of Entry will be. It's a great idea to have some experiential element to the Point of Entry. As an example, your organization might distribute small cards with a hand-drawn picture of a house and ask each guest to write down the three words that describe what their home means to them. Then have each person share their three words as they go around and introduce themselves at the beginning of the event.

Prior to starting each tour stop, you should use an "imagine" statement to preface the story you'll be sharing. For example, before sharing a story about someone you've helped to achieve homeownership through financial counseling, you might ask the audience to "imagine a family of four with children ages five and eight, living in a small two-bedroom apartment. One child is trying to do their homework while dinner is being prepared, and the younger child is playing noisily in the living room. Where do you play when the streets outside are dangerous due to the car traffic and neighborhood crime? These were the questions that the Smith family was asking themselves when they came to our first Homeowner Education Class" (and then proceed to tell the rest of the story). This is a great way to transition from one tour stop to the next without adding too much information, which can leave guests overwhelmed with facts and without having experienced a sufficient emotional connection.

08/18/2014

Q: This is our sixth year of the Ask Event. We have many returning table hosts. Extensions and increases have become a large part of our organization's earnings at our luncheons, which are around 800 people and raise about $600,000 over five years. Even though this is a great number for us, we do not hit 40% ripened fruit goals nor do we hit 10% Multiple-Year Giving Society level goals. In your guidelines you talk about 50% of your guests attending a Point of Entry in that same year, who are ripened fruit—new to the organization but have had a Point of Entry experience. The other half is un-ripened fruit. However, where do the Table Captains come in? Many have had a Point of Entry, have attended a past lunch and are a donor. Do they get told not to bring a table this year? Do we encourage them to bring some of their guests back? What's the right ratio? We seem to have a room full of current donors every year and it seems to slow our growth, but the current donors love coming. Thanks for your advice!

Sarah in Minnesota

A: Congratulations on the success you've seen at your past Ask Events. Thank you for your question and for looking beyond the dollars raised to see how to improve your Ask Event. As you mentioned, the purpose of the Ask Event in the Benevon Model is to harvest the newly ripened fruit from the prior year's Point of Entry Events. The only reason to have an annual Free One-Hour Ask Event is that your organization has cultivated new people over the course of the year leading up to the Ask Event at your Point of Entry Events and through Follow-Up Calls.

We would have a few recommendations for your organization to get your Ask Event on track. These tweaks should mean you are able to meet our critical benchmarks of at least 40% of the attendees at the event having attended a Point of Entry in the prior year and eventually getting 10% of the attendees to join your Multiple-Year Giving Society by giving at least $1,000 for five years.

First of all, scale down the size of your event and come up with a great Free Feel-Good Cultivation Event for your existing donors to attend. The groups we coach have Ask Events of about 200-300 people each year. A smaller event allows you to focus on only having Table Captains who have been Ambassadors in the prior year. An Ambassador is a short-term volunteer who hosts or brings ten to fifteen guests to Points of Entry within about three months. This should be the only criteria for someone to be asked to be a Table Captain.

Let's assume that someone comes to their first Ask Event as the guest of a Table Captain who has been an Ambassador. This guest would have already attended a Point of Entry, and statistically we find they would give two to four times more money at the Ask Event.

In the follow-up call after the event, in addition to thanking them for their gift, you also ask how they'd like to stay involved. In addition to telling them about special events that will happen throughout the year to thank your donors, you mention the role of Ambassadors and see if they'd like to host a Point of Entry. If they agree and follow through as an Ambassador, you will ask them to come back to their second Ask Event as a Table Captain who has already been an Ambassador. We find that most people will only agree to do this once (be an Ambassador and Table Captain), so after their second Ask Event, you let them know that you'd like to continue including them at the special, mission-focused, program-related Free Feel-Good Cultivation Events and even with some special one-on-one contacts (like a small group or personal meeting with your CEO and a board member).

You may need to have a "transition year" where you scale down from your current 800-person Ask Event to 500 people, and then make the leap to 300 people with the focus on at least 40% ripened fruit. You can invite some of your veteran Table Captains to either be Ambassadors or even to take a year off from hosting a table. Have them come and sit at VIP tables hosted by board members if they'd like to attend. Let them know you have some great new Table Captains that would love an opportunity to host a table and be sure to genuinely thank them for what they've helped you to accomplish at past events. Chances are, some of them will be relieved to have a year off and others will become some of your best Ambassadors once they understand how else they can help.

Assuming this takes hold, your donors will likely not be attending an Ask Event every year, meaning that you will need to have a strategy for cultivating and upgrading or re-upping their pledges before or in their fifth year. This requires truly getting to know these donors and doing high-level cultivation, which is what will lead to larger gifts and increased involvement from these loyal major donors. That's the whole point of the Benevon Model—to build lifelong relationships with these precious donors, not just to get them to the Ask Event each year. Beyond the additional dollars, this will bring a host of great things to your organization!

08/11/2014

Q: We are about six months away from our first Ask Event and are ready to start producing our seven-minute video. Our clinical staff is against asking people to come forward with stories, so we are not sure how to go about getting great footage for our video. We know it's important to have the right stories reflected in the video, but aren't sure how to get people to agree to be filmed.

Kelly in Wisconsin

A: You will need three video vignettes for your seven-minute video—one vignette for each of your areas of impact or "buckets." These are the same three buckets you use for your tour stops at your Point of Entry Events. How do you tell the stories there? Do you read a letter from a grateful client or family member? Do you have one client who is willing to tell their own story? Do you have stories told by a staff member, employer, police officer, employer, or teacher? Those would be the same people to approach for your video stories.

08/04/2014

Q: As a multi-service agency (shelter for women and families with children, child care center, adult day services program, community groups and classes), we are fortunate to provide all of our programs in one location—a large 100-plus-year-old Victorian mansion in our local downtown historic district. We have used the unofficial tag line of "Mansion with a Mission" for years. Can we continue the use of this phrase as both the Point of Entry Event—Mansion with a Mission Meetings—and the overall Giving Society name with separate names for the levels, or does this seem too confusing?

Judy in Pennsylvania

A: It sounds like your organization is doing great work in your community and we are very happy to hear that you are implementing the Benevon Model. Regarding the name of your Point of Entry Events, Ask Event, and Multiple-Year Giving Society, working with the tagline you have already used could work well. Here are a few things to consider in choosing the names for these pieces of the model.

First of all, we encourage organizations to tie the names of the Point of Entry, Ask Event and Multiple-Year Giving Society together with a common theme. So you will want to think all the way through to your Ask Event as you choose the name for your Point of Entry. We also want to be sure that this isn't confused with any other events you have already been doing prior to starting your implementation of the Benevon Model. If "Mansion with a Mission" has been used for other events or outreach, you may want to go another route to ensure people aren't confused or misled about what this is. If it hasn't been used, you should still consider whether or not this name will convey the true impact of your work. Given the broad scope of your programs, you will want to ensure the naming encompasses all you do. At our two-day workshops, we work with organizations to develop the three main areas of impact in their work. We call them "buckets." For an organization with such diverse programs, you may use something like "Supporting Individuals, Strengthening Families, and Building Community" or that you provide "Help, Hope, and Healing" to people in your community. These buckets are the cornerstone for designing the Point of Entry program and are a natural fit for naming the three levels in your Multiple-Year Giving Society. The buckets are also a great way to come up with names for other pieces of the model.

As an example: if you use the buckets, "Supporting Individuals, Strengthening Families, and Building Community," you could call the Point of Entry Event the Caring Community Tour. The Ask Event could be called the "Caring Community Fundraising Breakfast" and the name of your giving society could be the "Caring Community Circle." Either way, we want to be sure it's consistent from one step of the model to the next.

Ready to get started? Contact the fundraising experts at Benevon today to learn more about mission-based donor development and how it will help you create lifelong passionate donors and achieve financial sustainability and improve your major gift fundraising.